Anton Spath (1835-1913)

INTRODUCTION

Our family can trace its American roots to Anton Spath's arrival
in the middle 1800's. My great grandfather (Edward M. Spath I) was
Anton's youngest son. I have spent a considerable amount of time
searching libraries, court houses, cemeteries, and other places
looking for bits and pieces of the past. Many relatives and
friends have expressed an interest in genealogy. Because of this
interest, I have taken the effort to collect some of the stories
of Anton Spath, his family, and their Cross Keys' community, so
that it can be shared with others. This task is not complete.
Portions of the family tree need to be
expanded or corrected, questions need to be answered, and much
more work is necessary. In addition to more factual data,
pictures of the family and the Cross Keys' area during the 1800's
or early 1900's would enhance the story that is contained in
these pages. Everyone is encouraged to help. Information,
pictures, and maps of Baltimore City and County have been
included to aid the research effort and to give a better
understanding of the area during Anton Spath's life.

BIRTH

Anton was born on March 3, 1835 in Germany.(1) Resource material
suggests several locations for the place of his birth. Based on
all of the information that I have reviewed, it is most
likely that Anton was born in Dietzenbach, Germany. According
to Passenger Ship Records, family members that visited Uncle
Anton in 1910 were born and raised in Offenbach, Germany,
not too far from Frankfurt. Offenbach has a population of
116,000 in the city. Herbert W. Spath Sr. said that Anton came
from Düsseldorf, about 20 miles southwest of Essen.(2)

Germany

Records at the Family History Library operated by the Church of
Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (LDS) show that Anton was
born in Dietzenbach, Germany. Information from Christoph Spath
also says that Anton was born in Dietzenbach. The city of
Dietzenbach is about 10 miles southeast of Frankfurt and has a
population of approximately 35,400.

Dietzenbach

The name Spath comes from the German word spät, meaning late
and was pronounced shpat. Over time it was changed to Spath or
Spaeth. Different spellings of the name such as Spath, Spathe and
Spaeth come from the same German surname. Variations of the
spelling in resource material should be carefully evaluated. A
different spelling may be a legitimate variation, but may simply
be a misspelling. For example, the Woods Baltimore City Directory
spells the name as Antony Spates in 1898 and Anthon
Spath in 1899. Both are incorrect.

CHILDHOOD

Anton grew up when Germany was a federation of sovereign states.
The German Federation survived until 1866. (3) Not much
information is available about Anton's childhood. He was 22 when
he traveled to America. The
1900 U.S. census says that
Anton's year of immigration was 1856, while the
1910 census
says that it was 1855. Based on research submitted to the Family
History Library in Salt Lake City, Anton's parents were Heinrich
Spath and Anna Maria Juenger Spath (married on October 3, 1820).
Anton was the sixth of their seven children.

Johannes Spath (M) September 28, 1821

Rudolph Spath (M) October 4, 1823

George Spath (M) October 21, 1825

Maria Spath (F) October 13, 1828

Margarete Spath (F) September 1, 1830

Anton Spath (M) March 3, 1835

Johann Daniel Spath (M) July 10, 1838

TRAVEL TO AMERICA

Information listed in the 1900 census says that Anton
came to the United States in 1856.
Baltimore was a popular port of entry for immigrants in the
nineteenth century. In the late 1850's, Baltimore was the
third largest city in the United States with a population of
212,418.(3a) Between 1833 and 1876, it is reported that
272,218 German immigrants arrived in Maryland. The largest wave
of German settlers arrived during the decade of 1850 to 1860. (4)
Ellis Island in New York was the most popular port of entry for
Germans from 1850 to 1855 with 552,117 German arrivals as compared
to 46,437 German arrivals in the Baltimore port for the same time.
(*web*) Some Spaths might have arrived in New York and traveled
to Baltimore via ground transportation. Roughly 600,000 people
arrived at the Baltimore port between 1868 and 1900. Many who arrived
were Germans because the steamships that carried them sailed from
Bremen, Germany. Bremen is a city
near the mouth of the Weser in the North German Plain. Ships
belonging to the North German Lloyd Lines were named:
Braunschweig, Léipzig, Berlin, Baltimore, Bremen,
Nürnberg, and Ohio. The initial voyage of this line occurred
in March 1868. (5) (6) Many Germans who came to America after
1830 left their homeland for economic reasons. Germany
experienced an abortive revolution in 1848. (7) The liberal
refugees of the abortive revolution were called '48ers and
settled mostly north of the Mason Dixon Line.(8) Approximately
496 Spaths are listed in the 1880 federal census. Northern and
mid-western states accounted for the majority of Spaths.(8a) For
example New York had 80, Pennsylvania 78, Indiana 71, Ilinois 49,
Minnesota 44, Missouri 42, Wisconsin 30, Michigan 28, while New
Jersey had 9, Texas 2, Maryland 0, Virginia 0 and West Virginia 0.
These are not precise numbers. Some people (such as Anton) were
missed by the census takers, but they give a good estimate of the
approximate scatter of Spaths about the country.

TABLE 1

Spaths Arriving at the Port of Baltimore
1820-1897

DATE

VESSEL

PASSENGERS

DESTINATION

Aug 29, 1846

Albert

Cath.,Magd.

---

Oct 19, 1846

Johannes

A.M.,Marg.Elsie

Balt. MD

May 11, 1860

Ferdinand

Anna

Cinn. OH

Jun 11, 1861

Albert

Fried,Caroline,Catharine,Christine,Fried Jr.

IL

Dec 17, 1867

Clara

Christoph

---

Sep 16, 1871

Leipzig

Adolph,Marie,John,Heinhrich

USA

Apr 9, 1875

Braunschweig

Gustav,Henriette,Carl,Julius

USA

Apr 9, 1975

Braunschweig

Ferdinand,Friedrich

USA

Sep 21, 1881

Herman

Josef

USA

Apr 30, 1882

Nurnberg

Carl

St.Louis

Mar 12, 1884

Weser

Rosalie,Albert,Gorg,Wendelin,Crescenz,Josef,Roebus

TX

Jun 12, 1884

Habsburg

Minna

Wisc.

May 1, 1889

America

Lisette

Neb

May 9, 1890

Rhein

Barbara,Josef

Balt.

Jun 9, 1890

Rhein

Bertha

MO

Mar 25, 1884

Stuttgart

Christine

Clev.

May 12, 1895

Wittekind

Wally

St.Paul

Source: Passenger ship records from the National
Archives

During the period from 1820 to 1897, at least 38 Spaths arrived
at the port of Baltimore (See Table 1). I collected the list by
going through the soundex of passenger ship records at the
National Archives. Names were grouped by their travel companions.
Soundex listings assign a 4-digit code to each person's last
name. The first letter is taken and the remaining letters are
coded with numbers. Similar sounding surnames usually receive the
same soundex number. The soundex for Spath is S130. This is also
the first four digits of a Spath's Maryland driver's license.
Anton's name was not listed any time during the period from 1820
to 1897.
Only two groups of Spaths are listed as arriving between 1820 and
1860. One group of three people arrived in 1846 on the vessel
Johannes. Portions of the description fit Anton, such as a weaver
and destined for Baltimore. Other data such as ages are
inconsistent and lead to the conclusion that Anton was not part
of that group.

SOUNDEX CODES

1.

b, p, f, v

2.

c, s, k, g, j, q, x, z

3.

d, t

4.

l

5.

m, n

6.

r

not coded: a, e, i, o, u, y, w, h

Herbert Spath Sr. said that Anton came to America alone to avoid
German military service. It is possible that he traveled under
an assumed name, that the name listed on the ship's record was
misread when it was indexed, that the name was not legible at
all, or that the ship records have been destroyed. The 1900
census records say that Anton's "year of immigration" was 1856
and that he had been in the USA for 43 years.

It has been told that Anton came to America with his cousin. The
cousin was supposed to be the head of the Frank Spath family.
Daniel was Anton's nephew and was born in 1863, many years after
Anton's arrival in America. It is possible that Daniel might
have referred to as "the cousin." He had a son named Frank, a
grandson Frank and also a great-grandson Frank. All the Spaths
in the Baltimore area were said to be descendants of one of the
two cousins. With the large number of Spaths entering the port
of Baltimore, it is quite likely that other Spaths, not related
to Anton or his cousin, decided to stay in the city even though
other destinations may have been originally noted on the ship
records.

Esther Spath Robbins met Frank Spath in December 1945 when she was
a seasonal employee at the main Post Office in Baltimore. Frank
also worked at the Post Office. As Esther stood in a Post Office
line, Frank saw her Spath name tag. They found out that they were
distant cousins, although they were not clear of the exact
relationship. (9)

A ship named Minerva sailed from Bremen to Baltimore in
September 1855 and included Maria Strohicker (age 18) as one of
its passengers. It is possible that this passenger could have
been the woman that Anton Spath married. Michael Strohicker
(age 17) was also a passenger on the Minerva.(9a)

Baltimore Passenger and Immigration Lists for 1820-1872 include
"Anton Spat" on the sailing vessel named Bark Stella
that arrived in Baltimore on November 3, 1857 with 337 passengers.
It says that Anton was 22 years old and had sailed from Bremen.
He was a weaver. The record also says that his sisters,
Margarethe Spat, age 25, and Maria, age 28 were on the same
ship. (9b)

Source: Baltimore Passenger and Immigration Lists for 1820-1872

A bark vessel had three or more masts, square rigged except for the
fore- and aft-rigged aftermast. It was claimed to be the best all-around
20th century steel-hulled sailer. (9c) The bark James Wright was typical
of many bark vessels that sailed during the 1800's.

James Wright

OCCUPATION

A hint of the occupation of people from the past can be obtained
from many sources such as census records, city directories,
newspaper articles, word of mouth, etc. Census records are
collected every 10 years and in the 1970's could be found at
the National Archives in Washington D.C., among other places.
Many local libraries have microfilm copies of census records
and access to on-line databases. Most of the data from the 1890
census are not available because it was destroyed in a fire.
Records for 1880 and 1900 are accompanied by a soundex. I searched
for Anton's name but did not find it listed in either the 1880
or the 1900 soundex.

The next step was to search the actual census records by looking
in the proper census enumeration district for streets of Cross
Keys. Each census record is broken down by supervisor's district
and enumeration district. The enumeration districts are usually
described in a reference book or on microfilm by ward and
precinct or by street boundaries. In the 1880 Census, pages 2024
of enumeration district 242 (roll 496) listed dwellings in Cross
Keys, but no Spaths were included. Streets and house numbers
were not included for any of the Cross Keys residents. I also
searched other areas of election district No. 9 such as Hampden,
Davidville, Mt. Washington, Sweetair, and Clippier, and portions
of Election District No. 3 for Melvale, but I found nothing
useful.

My search of the 1900 Census was much more successful. Election
District No. 9 was broken down into four precincts. Precinct 2
contained the Cross Keys portion of Falls Road. Street names are
listed on the census sheet, there are no house numbers. Records
for this area would be found in Enumeration District 41. As I was
perusing sheet 33 of E.D. 41 (roll 607), the name Anton Path jumped
out at me. That was very close to the correct spelling. It was
missing only the letter "S". The house was located on
Falls Road. I looked across the census page and found his occupation
listed as landlord, years of marriage as 41, birth place as
Germany and birth date as March 1835. They were all the same! It
must be Anton Spath. The record said that his parents were born
in Germany and listed Anton's year of immigration as 1856. It
also listed his sister Annie M. at the same address and said that
she was born in October 1827. LDS records suggest that Maria
was born in October 1828.

Source: 1900 U.S. Census

The 1910 federal census includes information for the village of
Cross Keys as part of Enumeration District Number 30. The
30th Enumeration District was described as including part of
Election District 9 and part of Precinct 2 (excluding Mt. St. Mary's
Orphan Asylum), all west of the center of Roland Ave. In addition
to street names, the 1910 census also includes house numbers.
The first few sheets of Enumeration District 30 covered houses along
Roland Ave. The census taker listed several Falls Road houses on
sheet 4 and more on sheet 8 (Cold Spring Lane and Falls Road area).
The majority of the Cross Keys houses along Falls Road were listed
on sheets 10 to 14. Anton and Augusta Spath are listed on sheet 13,
at 223 Falls Road. The Pensky's are shown as Anton's
next door neighbors at 225 Falls Road. The family includes
Stephen, his wife Francis (Augusta's daughter), and their five
children.

Source: 1910 U.S. Census

Anton probably became a farmer when he first came to America. In
Baltimore City Directories for various years, he is listed as a
gardener, farmer, and laborer. Table 2 shows a summary of the
directory listings. Since Anton's residence was in Baltimore
County, it is not surprising that Anton's his name did not appear
in the city directories until 1895 when he was 60 years old.
Augusta's name was listed in the city directory the year
after Anton's death. Anton was probably best known as a landlord.
Today, we might even call him a slumlord.

TABLE 2

Directory Listings For Anton Spath

DATE

NAME

OCCUPATION

RESIDENCE

-

-

no Anton listings from 1873 to 1889

1890

-

-

-

1891

-

-

-

1892

-

-

-

1893

-

-

-

1894

-

-

-

1895

Spath, Anton

gardener

Falls Road near tollgate

1896

Spath, Anton

farmer

Falls Road near tollgate

1897

-

-

-

1898

Spates, Antony

farmer

Melvale

1899

Spath, Anthon

farmer

Cross Keys

1900

-

-

-

1901

-

-

-

1902

Spath, Anton

lab

Cross Keys

1903

Spath, Anton

lab

Cross Keys

1904

Spath, Anton

-

Cross Keys

1905

-

-

-

1906

Spath, Anton

-

Falls Road near Cold Spring Lane

1907

Spath, Anton

-

Falls Road near Cold Spring Lane

1908

Spath, Anton

-

Falls Road near Cold Spring Lane

1909

Spath, Anton

-

223 Falls Road

1910

Spath, Anton

-

223 Falls Road

1911

Spath, Anton

-

223 Falls Road

1912

Spath, Anton

-

223 Falls Road

1913

-

-

-

1914

-

-

-

Source: Woods Baltimore City Directories for years prior to
1901
R.L. Polk & Co. Baltimore City Directories after 1901

MARRIAGE

On May 25, 1860 Anton Spath married Anna Maria Strohicker. He was
25 and had been in the USA for about two and a half years. She
was 22 years old. According to information kept by the
Maryland Hall of Records Commission, the ceremony was conducted
by a person named Bush and took place in Baltimore. The record
shows the spelling of the names of the bride and groom as Anton
Spathe and Mary Strohicker. (10) Viola Johnson Gray told me that
the name was spelled Strohecker. Anna Maria was born on March 29,
1838 in Germany. (11)

RESIDENCE

Anton established his residence in Baltimore County in the 1860's.
At that time, the northern boundary of Baltimore City was many miles
south of Anton's property. The figure below shows a portion of
Baltimore County near Cross Keys in 1852. A Falls Road tavern and
several nearby dwellings are shown on the lower left hand corner.(15)
The tavern was the Cross Keys Inn. The 1852 map also shows a Rural
Mill that was very close to Melvale Station and Anton's property.
One of the residents shown near to Melvale Station was M. Mather.
The Mather family operated the Cross Keys Inn from 1849 to some time
around 1880. (15a) Baltimore City annexed 23 square miles of
Baltimore County in 1888 and pushed the boundary of the city into
Hampden, just a few blocks south
of Cold Spring Lane, but not far
enough north to include Anton's property. (16) Maps in several
Baltimore books show the city boundaries
as they expanded. (17)

By 1865 the U.S. Civil War was coming to a close. Robert E. Lee
surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox courthouse on
April 9, 1865. Six days later, Lincoln was shot at Ford's theater
in Washington DC.(17b) Lincoln's funeral train departed Baltimore's
Calvert Street Station and traveled along the Northern Central
railroad tracks. At the end of 1865, Anton signed a lease for
property along the same Northern Central railroad tracks that
carried Lincoln's funeral train. The lease, dated December 29, 1865,
was between Anton Spath and Charlotte E. Harper, William Pennington
and Shirley Pennington for eleven acres of a tract of land described
as Oakland Resurveyed. Under the agreement, Anton paid $100 annual
rent.(12) The eleven acres were located between Jones Falls and the
Northern Central railway tracks. (13)

Anton's property was north of Melvale Station and west of the Falls
Turnpike Road. Viola Gray told me that Anton built a house facing
the Pennsylvania Railroad at Melvale, Maryland. All of his children
were born and raised in the house. (13b) On September 29, 1887, Anton
and his wife, Mary Spath purchased the eleven acres that they had
been leasing. (14) An unanswered question remains. Where did Anton
live from 1857 until 1865? The 1865 lease indicates that Anton was
from "Baltimore City". The 1860 census may provide some
answers. A street-by-street search is required since no soundex
is available for the 1860 census. I looked at the data on the
microfilm roll that included wards 4, 5, and 6, but found
nothing. From 1816 to 1888, North Avenue was the northern
boundary of Baltimore City.

The Northern Central Railroad (NCRR) that ran adjacent to Anton's
11 acres was founded in 1854 by consolidation of the Baltimore
and Susquehanna Railroad and lines from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
(18) It served Baltimore City and the towns of central Maryland
and Pennsylvania. A 60 mile ride from Baltimore to York,
Pennsylvania took 4 hours and cost $1.75. Much of the white
marble used for front steps was hauled down to Baltimore on the
Northern Central tracks.(19)

Confederate troops opened fire on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861.
Newly elected President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to
put down the rebellion. In response, troops from Massachusetts
and Pennsylvania traveled through Philadelphia to Baltimore's
President Street Station on their way to the Nation's Capital.
As the 35 train cars full of troops were individually pulled
by horse from the President Street Station to the B&O train
tracks at Camden Station, Baltimore citizens
harassed the troops and barraged the cars with stones that
shattered railroad car windows. The eighth car in the procession
was stopped when sand, a ship anchor and cobblestones were dumped
to block the tracks. The troops tried to return to President Street
Station, but there was violence. Four soldiers were killed and
three dozen were injured. Northern newspapers were
enraged and wanted to "organize, arm, and push on to
Baltimore to lay it to ashes". City politicians were concerned
that another incident would cause much greater violence and wanted
to eliminate the clash before it occurred. To prevent northern troops
from reaching the city, Mayor Brown ordered a squad of Baltimore
police to destroy the Northern Central Railroad bridges at
Melvale, Relay House, and Cockysville on April 20, 1861. John
Merryman was arrested on May 25, 1861 and held at Fort McHenry for
burning the Northern Central Railroad bridges. The railroad bridge
at Melvale was just south of the property that Anton would lease in
1865. (20)(20c)

Army encampments appeared during the Civil War in Druid Hill Park
and other parts of the city. The army took prisoners from
Gettysburg and Antietam to Baltimore.(20b) Baltimore had 44 forts,
batteries, redoubts and armed camps during the Civil War. There
were also unarmed camps (hospitals, POW's, etc.). Camp Melvale
existed from 1861 to 1862 at Cold Spring Lane and Jones Falls in the
Cross Keys area. Camp Melvale was also called Camp Small because the
property had previously been owned by George W. Small. Jim, an office
worker at Fleischmann's, said that the area west of the Fleischmann
building is used as a debris dump for Baltimore Gas & Electric
and was the site of Camp Small during the Civil War. It was used as
a holding area for prisoners.

During the Civil War, the Northern Central line carried a greatly
increased traffic load, generated much additional revenue, and
was double tracked from Baltimore to York. In the figure below,
the railroad tracks can be seen as they pass over the Jones Falls,
near Melvale Station. The figure of the Melvale Distilling
building from the 1800's was often used in advertisements for pure
rye whiskey. Their main office was located at 45 S. Gay Street in
Baltimore. A train can be seen approaching Melvale Station on the
far left side of the figure.

Melvale Distilling

The old distillery still stands today along Old West Cold Spring
Lane. Some time prior to the 1990's, the main
Fleischmann's building was slightly
modified from its original construction. Air conditioning
units protrude from several of the windows and a one story frame
structure has been added to the south side of the building.
Buildings adjacent to the main structure do not look like
originals. The property now is used to manufacture vinegar
by Fleischmann's. The address for manufacturing is 1900 Brand
Ave. The original Melvale Railroad Station is not standing
today. (12) Construction of the Jones Falls Expressway (JFX)
was completed in 1962 and cut off Old West Cold Spring Lane east
of Melvale Station and the railroad tracks. Cold Spring Lane
now passes high above the falls, the expressway, and
Fleischmann's. With the changes, Old Cold Spring Lane dead ends
into the parking lot of the Fleischmann plant. A high chain
linked fence impedes direct passage to the railroad tracks.
The maintenance man told me that the owner of the plant has a
lithograph of Melvale Station.

Dam on Jones FallsSource: 1915 Baltimore County Atlas by Bromley

Anton's property between the Jones Falls and the Northern Central
railroad tracks was labeled on the 1877 map, but the property looks
vacant on Bromley's 1915 Atlas. Anton sold the willow
grove to the Roland Park Company when they needed land for a
sewage disposal field. It is likely that real estate
transaction occurred when the Baltimore Country Club was organized
in 1898, or when the clubhouse was built a year later, or when
Roland Park plat 2 was laid out in 1901, or when the historic
Roland Park Water Tower was designed in 1904 (and water made
available to all of the new houses in Roland Park).(29) A dam
is shown on the 1915 map in the vicinity of Anton 1870's property.
It also might have been involved with the Roland Park "water
works" that is also shown on the map.

The Baltimore Country Club was organized in 1898 and a club house
was built a year later. After the unique looking Roland Park water
tower was constructed, water was delivered to every house in Roland
Park. It did not, however, include any supply for the Cross Keys
residents. (20d)

FALLS TURNPIKE

The 1895 and 1896 Woods Baltimore City Directories list Anton's
residence as Falls Road near tollgate. Anton's houses were built
close to the Falls Turnpike Road. The legislature incorporated
the Falls Road Turnpike Company in 1804 to construct a road from
Baltimore to Richard Caton's lime kilns at Brooklandville. The
cost of the road was $7500 per mile. Tollgates were placed at
locations along the road where toll collections could be
maximized. Most of the Baltimore turnpikes were out of operation
by about 1910. (21) The location of the Baltimore turnpikes and
railroads are shown on the figure below. (22)

Source: A History of Baltimore County by Brooks and Rockel

A fee was charged according to the load that travelers carried on
the Falls Turnpike. Wagons with narrow wheels were charged a higher
fee because it was believed that they caused more road damage than
wider wheels. (23) T.C. Robbins introduced the electric motor
to street car service in 1885 on the Baltimore & Hampden
Railway. It was reportedly the first electric railway operation in
America. The electric equipment wore out by 1889 and the company
went back to mule service. The Pikesville Reisterstown Emory
Grove Railroad ran from Mt. Washington, along the Falls Turnpike
Road, down Charles and Calvert to Baltimore Street. The name was
later changed to the Baltimore and Northern. Operation started
in 1897. (24) One of trolleys along Falls Road can be seen in the
1906 figure from the book Baltimore - A Picture History.
Records at the Baltimore County court house in Towson show that
Anton and his wife purchased the 11-acre tract of land in
September, 1887, for $2,200. The deed, recorded in book number
134 J.W.S., listed the purchasers as Anton Späth and his wife
Mary Späth. Initially, Anton owned property west of Falls
Road, but later moved across the street to a duplex at 223 Falls
Road. The exact date is not known. The other half of the duplex
was smaller and was occupied by Stephen Penske, Stephen's wife
Frances, and Frances' mother Augusta Philips. Baltimore City
Directories might tell when the Philips moved into the Falls
Road house.

After many years of inactivity, the Northern Central Railroad
right-of-way was viewed as a potential home for part of a proposed
north-south mass transportation system for the city. Planning was
started about 1980 and the first 22.5 miles of track were opened
for ridership in April 1992. Baltimore's Light Rail runs from its
southern point in Glen Burnie to Baltimore's downtown area, along
the Jones Falls, right past Melvale Station, across
Lake Roland, and finally all the way to
Hunt Valley.

When I was searching and reviewing old records, some of the
information was listed by legislative, census or election district.
Baltimore County was divided into election districts as shown on the
1877 map. (25) The area was also divided into census or enumeration
districts. Anton's property was located in E.D.228 or E.D.242.
In 1880, Enumeration District No.242 of ward 20 was described as
all that part of the Ninth Election District lying South of Lake
Avenue from Jones' Falls to Charles Street, then West of Charles
St. to Merryman's Lane and North of Sixth Avenue to Hampden road
and then West of Hampden road to Jones Falls. (26) The
enumerator was G.G. Gibson of Woodbury. Enumeration District 228
was described as all that part of the Third Election District
lying East of Madison Ave, from City limits, and east of Green
Spring Avenue through Druid Hill Park to the old Court road, and
South of said road to the 9th District line at Rockland.

NATURALIZATION

Naturalization records at the Hall of Records in Annapolis were
searched for Anton's name, but it was not found. The 1900 Census
lists the citizenship of the persons surveyed. It shows that
Anton Spath was naturalized by its "na" designation in
column 18. Many years later, a second search of records in
Annapolis found three Spaths in the Naturalization index. They
were Anton, Daniel and Ferdinand. The Naturalization record says
that, in 1883, Anton appeared before the court and preyed to
become a citizen of the United States. The Certificate of
Naturalization was signed by the Clerk of the Circuit Court of
Baltimore County on November 26, 1883. (26b)

CHILDREN

Anton and his wife Anna Maria had four children that made it to
adulthood. At least one additional child (Matilda) died shortly
after birth.(27) She was Christina's twin sister. All of the
children were born and raised in Baltimore. The children's names
birth dates are listed below:

Anton Spath Jr. - January 6, 1864

Anna Marie Spath Anthon - April 17, 1867

Christina Kathrine Spath Johnson - August 27, 1869

Matilda Spath - August 27, 1869

Edward Martin Spath - January 25, 1872

Anton Spath Jr. (age 22) married Mary Ziehl (age 24) on
February 15, 1887 according to the records at the Baltimore City
court house. Their oldest child, Herbert W. Spath, was born on
June 13, 1890. Listings in the Baltimore City Directories show
that Anton Spath Jr. was an insurance agent in Baltimore City
from about 1888 to 1896 and a grocer from 1905 to 1910 (190 Falls
Road). His father's house was on the east side of Falls Road and
the grocery store was on the west side of the Road. He was
listed in the directory as a florist from 1911 to 1918.
Anton Jr. and his son Herbert Spath Sr. owned a florist
shop on Wyndhurst and Lawrence Avenues in Roland Park until
the Great War put them out of business. The florist shop was
located near Wyndhurst Station, one of the stops on the Maryland
and Pennsylvania Railroad. This narrow gauge railroad was called the
Ma and Pa Railroad. In the Roland Park area, the tracks ran adjacent
to Stoney Run and crossed Wyndhurst Avenue near the florist shop.
Herbert Spath Jr. was given the sign that hung over the door of
the florist shop. Jim Glover's cousin, Gary, found a copy of the
Roland Park Walking Tour book that included the following item
as stop 10 on tour number one.(27a)

The Roland Park Florist is the fourth florist to locate here,
just outside the boundaries of the Park. It follows a tradition
that began in 1894 when A. Spath & Son opened a florist at
the same spot. The Covens family, owners of the present Roland
Park Florist, have been in business since 1938.

Anton Jr. died on December 29, 1919 and is buried in Baltimore
Cemetery. His wife Mary died earlier in 1919 on January 11th.

Several bodies are buried in the Baltimore Cemetery lot that was
owned by Anton Spath Jr. The east (E) and west (W) designations
usually indicated that infants or small children are buried in
the grave. It is not clear if all of those buried were
relatives. (36) Cemetery records indicated that the following
were buried in Anton Jr.'s lot, J443:

1 Schlesinger, Marg., Aug 27, 1861

2 Schlesinger, Henry, Jan 23, 1867

2E Smalzel, Choe St, Aug 8, 1865

3W Spath, Charlotte A, Sep 26, 1898

4W Spath, S.M., Jul 22, 1889

4E Spath, Marie A. Aug 15, 1895

two other people

An idea of when the two sons, Anton Jr. and Edward, went out on
their own can be put together by looking at the yearly listings
in the Baltimore City Directories. Anton Jr.'s name first
appeared in 1888 when he was 22 years old and Edward's name
appeared in 1891 when he was 18. Neither daughter's name
appeared in the directories. Women were sometimes listed in the
directories next to their husband's name and sometimes not listed
at all. It is not easy to differentiate between Anton Sr. and Jr.
each year in the Baltimore City Directories. The entries for Sr.
on table 2 were differentiated from those for Jr.(table 3) by the
Sr/Jr designation or by their address or occupation.

Source: 1915 Baltimore County Atlas by Bromley

Anton Jr. is listed in Baltimore directories as a florist from
1911 to 1918 at Wyndhurst and Lawrence Avenues. His frorist shop
was east of Roland Park and west of Charles Street in an area
called Embla Park.

TABLE 3

Directory Listings For Anton Spath Jr.

DATE

NAME

OCCUPATION

RESIDENCE

1887

-

-

-

1888

Spath, Anton

agt

528 n. Castle

1889

Spath, Anton

ins.

528 n. Castle

1890

Spath, Anton

grocer

175 n. Chester

1891

Spath, Anton

grocer

1751 n. Chester

1892

-

-

-

1893

-

-

-

1894

-

-

-

1895

Spath, Anton Jr

ins.

Melvale NCRR

1896

Spath, Anton Jr

ins.

Melvale NCRR

1897

Spath, Anton Jr

farmer

Melvale

1898

Spath, Anton Jr

lab

Cross Keys

1899

-

-

-

1900

-

-

-

1901

-

-

-

1902

-

-

-

1903

Spath, Anton Jr

lab

Cross Keys

1904

-

-

-

1905

Spath, Anton

grocer

Falls Road near Cold Spring La

1906

Spath, Anton Jr

grocer

Falls Road nr Cold Spring lane

1907

Spath, Anton Jr

grocer

Falls rd nr Cold Spring la

1908

Spath, Anton Jr

grocer

Falls rd nr Cold Spring la h do

1909

Spath, Anton Jr

grocer

190 Falls rd

1910

Spath, Anton Jr

grocer

190 Falls rd

1911

Spath, Anton Jr

florist

Wyndhurst & Lawrence avs

1912

Spath, Anton Jr

florist

Wyndhurst & Lawrence avs

1913

Spath, Anton Jr

florist

Wyndhurst & Lawrence avs

1914

Spath, Anton

florist

Wyndhurst & Lawrence avs

1915

Spath, Antone

florist

Wyndhurst & Lawrence avs

1916

Spath, Anton

florist

Wyndhurst & Lawrence avs

1917

Spath, Anton

florist

Wyndhurst & Lawrence avs

1918

Spath, Anton

florist

Wyndhurst & Lawrence avs

1920

-

-

-

1921

-

-

-

Source: Woods Baltimore City Directories for years prior to
1901
R.L. Polk & Co. Baltimore City Directories after 1901

Anna Marie Spath Anthon married George F. Anthon in about
1893 and lived at 1025 Falls Road. Their children were Antoinette,
John William and George Dewey Anthon. Dewey died in 1911 at age 13.
Some time before 1926, John William Anthon married Lula Yeagle,
sister of George E. Yeagle and Lawrence Yeagle. The families were
already connected because Edward Spath's sister, Madeline, married
George E. Yeagle in about 1915. Anna Marie died on May 24,1913
when she was 46 and is buried in Baltimore Cemetery close to her
father's grave.

Christina Spath Johnson and her husband Olaf Johnson (from
Denmark) lived at 809 35th Street until they moved to 2943 Cedar
Avenue in 1913. Both houses were in Baltimore City. Viola was
their daughter. In the 1920 census, Viola and her husband (Thomas
Carroll Pierce) lived at 1027 Falls Road. Her cousin John William
Anthon and his wife Lula were their next door neighbors. The
cousins were two of Anton Spath's grandchildren.
Christina and Olaf also had three children who
died at birth. Christina and Olaf are buried in the Mt. Lebanon
section of the Parkwood Cemetery on Taylor Avenue between
Harford and Belair Roads.

Christina Spath

Edward Martin Spath married Laura Anthon on April 24, 1893.
Both were 21 years old. They moved to 703 Third Avenue in Hampden
after several years of marriage and lived there for about 15 years.
Although the name of Third Avenue was changed to 36th Street many
years ago, people from Hampden still call it the Avenue. Edward
worked for the railroad until about 1910. Edward and Laura had two
children, Madeline and Edward Jr. Laura's father, William E.
Anthon, fought in the Civil War.

For twelve years before his death, Edward Spath operated a grocery
store with George E. Yeagle. Edward's daughter Madeline was married to
his partner, George. Their store was located on the east side of
Falls Road south of Cold Spring Lane, at the north (left) end of the
block, next to the alley. George and Madeline Yeagle lived at the
south end of the same block. The building and the houses in that
block were built in 1913 and are still standing today.

4400 block Falls RoadSource: Microsoft Live Search

Edward and Laura lived at 903 Cold Spring Lane from about 1912
to 1925. Edward died at 3PM on January 2, 1925 while he was
shoveling snow. At 9PM that same day, his sister Christina died at
her daughter's house in Washington, DC. Some time after 1930, Laura
married Mr. Williams. Laura died in 1939. The 903 Cold Spring Lane
house was sold after Mr. Williams death in the late 1940's. Edward
and Laura are buried at a Spath/Yeagle family plot in the Woodale
section of the Druid Ridge Cemetery.

Source: Woods Baltimore City Directories for years prior to
1901
R.L. Polk & Co. Baltimore City Directories after 1901

Anton and Anna Maria Spath had nine adult grandchildren, George
Dewey Anthon (died at 13) and several that died as infants. Some
had long lives and others died young. In addition to the
grandchildren listed in table 5, Christina and Olaf Johnson
had thee baby boys that died at birth and are buried at
Western Cemetery in Baltimore.

TABLE 5

Anton Spath's Grandchildren

NAME

BIRTH

DEATH

AGE

PARENTS

S.M. Spath

about 1889

July 20, 1889

--

Mary and Anton Spath Jr

Herbert W. Spath Sr

June 13, 1890

May 20, 1976

85

Mary and Anton Spath Jr

Lena Spath Mark

August 31, 1891

December 9, 1969

78

Mary and Anton Spath Jr

Ella Margaret Spath Ketler

November 21, 1892

November 10, 1938

45

Mary and Anton Spath Jr

Marie Antoinette Anthon Helms

October 15, 1893

June 21, 1941

47

Anna Marie and George Anthon

John William Anthon

February, 6, 1895

August 18, 1954

59

Anna Marie and George Anthon

Marie A. Spath

about 1895

August 1895

--

Mary and Anton Spath Jr

Madeline Spath Yeagle

June 4, 1896

December 31, 1969

73

Laura and Edward Spath I

Viola Johnson Pearce Gray

January 27, 1897

November 1987

90

Christina and Olaf Johnson

Charlotte Augusta Spath

February 24, 1898

September 24, 1898

6 mo

Mary and Anton Spath Jr

George Dewey Anthon

July 15, 1898

August 12, 1911

13

Anna Marie and George Anthon

Florence Anna Spath Mason

September 5, 1900

March 1, 1989

88

Mary and Anton Spath Jr

Edward M. Spath II

July 19, 1903

July 22, 1964

61

Laura and Edward Spath I

Source: various records

QUARRY

The Jones Falls quarries that were located just north of the city
line were considered to contain excellent examples of gneiss and
granitic gneiss that was found in Baltimore County. (28) One of
these quarries was operated on Anton's property. It was located
high up on the hill behind his dwelling. Much of the stone for the
roads of Roland Park was supplied from the quarry. (29) Roland Park
was a planned community for the rich that was located a few blocks
east of Anton's property. The community was incorporated in 1892
and grew from 250 homes in 1904 to 500 homes in 1910.(30) The
planners tried to preserve the natural beauty of the landscape.

BASKET WEAVING

Anton used his willow grove along the Jones Falls to provide
material for the baskets that he made and sold in the
neighborhood or possibly at the market. The Jones Falls starts at
the head of the Green Spring Valley; flows through alluvial
material near Mt. Washington; rushes over broken rocks, across an
alluvial meadow and over the crushed remains of rock ledges; and
finally through the city. David Jones was the first settler along
the Jones Falls and the stream was named after him. (31) A
rainfall of 7 inches on July 24, 1868 produced a flood that
inundated several thousand homes along the Jones Falls. (32) One
hundred lives were lost and all the bridges except for the one at
Eager Street were washed out. (33) The draught of 1872 caused
different but serious problems along the Jones Falls valley.
Topographic maps show that Anton's land was low and might have
been affected by floods. The 1899 USGS Quadrangle shows several
streams entering the Jones Falls in the Cross Keys area. It shows
Cold Spring Lane running east-west, parallel and north of the
city/county boundary. An area named Clyburn can be seen on the map
west of the railroad tracks, north of Melvale and not too far
from Anton's property. Horatio Nelson Gambrill owned a large estate
in Clyburn, estimated to be worth $200,000 in the 1860 U.S. Census.
He built the Druid Mill in 1866. When it was expanded in 1872,
it was one of the largest cotton duck mills in the world. It was
near the Jones Falls in Woodberry. (33a)

source: 1899 USGS Quadrangle

CHURCH ACTIVITIES

Bertha Spath told that Anton belonged to the First German Church.
Records show that the German Baptist Church was organized in 1859
and moved to a new building at Caroline and Hampstead Streets in
April 1867. (34) The church records may be in the possession of
West Baltimore Baptist Church (formally Second Church). Anton's
obituary tells that his funeral was held at the First German
Baptist Church that was located at the corner of Monument and
Patterson Park Avenues. Records of the church still have to be
searched. Anton also attended Hampden Baptist Church and served
as a deacon of the church for many years. The fiftieth
anniversary book for the church tells that Anton was a delegate
to the Maryland Baptist Union Association in October of 1888,
1889, 1890, 1896, 1898. His wife and children were delegates in
many other years. (35) The Spath family always had doughnuts on
Fat Tuesday. Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday is the day before the
beginning of Lent. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and is
46 days before Easter (40 weekdays and 6 Sundays). This day was
set aside as a special day of repentance. In the year 325, the
church decided that Easter would fall on the first Sunday after
the full moon that occurs on or after March 21.
"Shrove" refers to the shriving or cleansing of sins by
going to confession on this day. On the other hand, it was a day
of feasting and carnival. The Germans called it
"Fasching" or "Facsh Nacht". It was the time
to use up their store of fat which was forbidden during Lent.
Thus, many Germans used up the fat by making doughnuts on Shrove
Tuesday.

ANTON'S NEIGHBORS

The 1880 census lists Perry
Knight and family as residents of the village of Cross Keys. It
said that he was in the restaurant business. His wife's name was
Lena (age 28) and there were five children, Mary (age 16), Annie
(age 13), William (age 12), Perry (age 4) and Lena (age 2). The
census shows that there were three boarders with the Knights.
In addition, Nathan Mather and his family were in the same house.(35a)

On the east side of Falls Road (opposite the Cross Keys Inn), was
a picnic grounds called the White Oak Grove. It had a dancing pavilion
with polished floors under the trees.

Much of Anton's property was located on the east side of Falls Road (from
Spath Lane on the south to Oakdale Road on the north). Anton owned a
rental house at the corner of Falls Road and Oakdale Road and also
four houses on the south side of Oakdale Road. The Colored M.E.
Church was located on the north side of Oakdale Road. It was one of two
churches in the village of Cross Keys during the early 1900's.
The 1918 Maryland Legislative session describes the church property
as bounded on the south by a lot owned by Anton Spath. The other church
was on Falls Road, several houses south of Anton's property. On the
1915 map, its building was shown as a HALL.

Anton's Two Church Neighborssource: 1915 Baltimore County Atlas

ANTON'S BROTHER JOHANNES

Christoph Spath sent a letter to many Spaths in 1993 asking for
information about the Spaths of Baltimore. Christoph lived in
Vermont. I responded by providing
a copy of the Anton story. Christoph's father, Bertold Karl Spath
lived in Aschaffenburg, Germany and
planed to visit America in September 1993. Aschaffenburg is located
about 25 miles southeast of Frankfurt and 220 miles northwest of
Munich. Aschaffenburg was a Roman settlement on the right bank
of the Main River and has grown industrially in recent years.

Daniel Spath was Christoph Spath's great-grandfather. Christoph
said that Daniel Spath was born on January 19, 1863 in
Dietzenbach (Hessen) Germany and died on November 8, 1927 in
Baltimore. Daniel's profession in Germany was a steel or leather
"presser". Daniel's youngest son Franz was approximately 14
years old when he immigrated to Baltimore with his father. Franz
and his oldest son (Frank) are the "Frank Spath" part of our family.

In Christoph's second letter, I received several family pictures
and Bertold's family tree given to Christoph
by his father, Bertold Spath.(35b) Christoph's father (as a youngster)
and grandfather Karl Spath are shown in the picture below. Several
generations of Bertold's family tree match the names and dates
that I found at the family History Library in Salt Lake City. The
Salt Lake City records show Heinrich Spath and Anna Maria Junger
as Anton's parents while Bertold's family tree also includes them
as Bertold's great-great-grandparents. Bertold's great
grandfather, Johannes, was Anton's oldest brother.

Pat and Dan Spath also received a copy of Christoph's letter in 1993
and traveled from Baltimore to New Jersey to meet Bertold, Lottie
and Christoph Spath. They were excited to visit the Ellis Island and
checked out the Immigrants Wall of Honor. Dan retired in about 1980
and operates Time and Treasures, a clock
repair shop in Ellicott City, MD.

Listed below is part of the family of Anton's brother Johannes
Spath.

Johannes Spath (born September 28, 1821) married Anna Katherena Korb
Spath on October 29, 1854

Anton made several trips back to Germany during his lifetime. On
one of his trips, he brought Daniel Spath and Daniel's son to the
United States. Herbert Spath Sr. said that his father
(Anton Jr.) was Dan's uncle. (36) They could not get used to the
new country and returned to Germany after several years in
America.

Passenger Ship Records show that four Spaths were aboard
the S.S. Wein that sailed from Bremen, Germany on August 25, 1910.
It arrived at the port of Baltimore on September 7, 1910. Anton
and Auguste Späth were returning home to Rollen Park,
Maryland. (Spelling was not always accurate in the ship logs).
Daniel Späth and his 8year old son were also aboard the S.S.
Wein. They were going to visit Uncle Anton Späth at 223
Falls Road, Roland Park, Maryland. Daniel was 5 foot 7 inches
tall, had black hair, blue eyes and was born in Offenbach,
Germany. Offenbach is a town in the state of Hesse, Germany
and is only a few miles south east of Frankfurt. In addition to
the four Spaths, the S.S. Wein passenger records also includes
Frieda Pronys who was on her way to see Uncle Anton Spath at 223
Falls Road.

The 1911 Baltimore City Directory lists Danl Spath and Anton
Spath both at 223 Falls Road. Daniel is listed in the 1923 City
directory at 2571 Fdk av. From 1924 to 1927, Danl, Frank W, and
Cath, are all listed in the Baltimore City Directories at 2517 w
Lombard Street. The directories after 1927 only list Frank and
Cath. An obituary in the Baltimore Morning Sun said that
Daniel Spath, father of Frank W. Spath, died on November 6, 1927. He
was buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery.

ANTON'S BROTHER JOHANN DANIEL

Johann Daniel Spath was Anton's youngest brother. He was born in
Dietzenbach, Germany and immigrated to the USA prior to his marriage
to Eva Margarethe Gunther Bauer in 1873. Johann Daniel died on
January 24, 1900 and is buried at the Zion Luthern United Church of
Christ Cemetery in Baltimore. His wife, Eva died two months later
(March 17, 1900) and is also buried at the same cemetery. Mary Anna
Bauer was Eva's daughter by a previous marriage. Mary Anna married
Christian Foltz in 1881 when she was 19 years old. Mae Sturgis (Eva
Margarethe's great granddaughter) provided the Spath family
research that is available at the LDS Family History Center.

OTHER RELATIVES

The 1900 Census Records show that Anton's sister Annie M. was
living with Anton at the time of the 1900 census. She was born in
1827, had six children, two living in 1900, and immigrated in
1856. It looks like the census taker might have combined some of
Anton's information with his sister. She probably did not
immigrate in 1856 with her brother Anton.

When I visited Salt Lake City, Utah in May 1991, I toured the
Family History Library operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of
the Latter Day Saints (LDS). The Family History Library was
founded in 1894 to gather records that help people trace their
ancestry. More than 1500 family history centers operate in 55
countries. The library in Salt Lake City and the other family
history centers are open to the public. Family history centers
are generally located in church meeting houses and are staffed by
volunteers. Much information is now available on the LDS web site.
The collection of records is important to the church
and is not limited to the church, its members, or ancestors. It
is a valuable source of information.

I found Anton Spath's name listed in the LDS Ancestral File. The
Ancestral search file links individuals to families or pedigrees
and is available on compact disk. In a matter of minutes (in 1991),
I discovered four new generations of Spaths; Anton's parents,
grandparents, great grandparents, and great great grandparents.
The names and birth dates for those four generations were
collected by Mae E. Sturgis of Las Vegas, Nevada. LDS records
indicate that the source of information was the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Darmstadt, Germany.
On one LDS "entry form", Mae Sturgis wrote that Mary
Anna Bauer was her grandmother and was raised by Daniel Spath
(1838-1900) and took his name. Mary Anna's mother was a widow
when she came to this country and loved her stepfather. Mae
Sturgis wrote that she prayed about this and felt that it was
right to have her sealed to him.

LDS Family History records show that Anton's great grandfather Isaac
Spath was born in Dettingen, AM in 1724. I found
10 Dettingens on a Global Gazetteer, a directory of the
world's cities and towns.
Several of the cities had unique names, such as:
Dettingen am Albuch,
Dettingen am Main,
Dettingen an der Erms,
Dettingen an der Iller and
Dettingen unter Teck.
Since nine of the ten locations were close to Stuttgart, my initial
focus was on the towns that were located south of
Stuttgart. Soon I realized that this was the wrong area,
because the AM in the record stands for au main or on the
Main River. Only one town (named Dettingen) was on the Main and
it was located east of Frankfurt.

History tells that there was a
Battle of Dettingen in July 1743. It was fought on the north
bank of the Main River east of Frankfurt and 3 miles west of
Aschaffenburg. King George II of Great Britain, with his sword
raised high, led 50,000 allied troops against 70,000 French troops
at the Battle of Dettingen. This was the last time that a reigning
monarch personally led his troops in battle. The allied force called
the Pragmatic Army, was comprised of British, Austrian and
Hanoverian troops.

Isaac Spath was born in Dettingen in 1724. He was 19 years old and
probably still living in the town when the Battle of Dettingen was
fought in 1743. He married Judith Junger and from 1756 to September
1768 had six children while they lived in Dettingen. Their last child,
Anton's grandfather Heinrich, was born in Dietzenbach in February 1771.

PROPERTY HOLDINGS

Throughout the years, Anton's property holdings along Falls Road
grew. The Baltimore County Court House records show that Anton
purchased a lot on the west side of Falls road in April 1884.
Four additional lots were obtained from a trustee sale in
December 1884. An auction in March 1890 added more. A street
intersecting Falls Road near Anton's house was called Spath's
Lane. This unpaved lane might have provided access to the rock
quarry. Anton owned at least 16 houses and lots by the end
of his tenure. It has been told that most of these structures
were without indoor plumbing and that the dwellings were
inhabited by poor blacks. The 1906 picture shown below was taken
from a point on Falls Road north of Anton's properties. (37) Falls
Turnpike Road and the No.25 trolley line can be seen in the
picture. Roland Park houses along Hillside Road and the tennis
courts of the Baltimore Country Club can be seen in the
background. A golf course and club house were also included in
the development of the Baltimore Country Club. Part of the golf
course was on the east side of Falls Road. When you looked the at the
course from Falls Road, the layout wandered up the hill to a grand
club house that was located at the top
of the hill. (37b) After playing the starting hole, or maybe two,
golfers crossed the road to play additional holes that were on the
flatter west side of Falls Road. They had to hit over Falls Road
on the 17th hole. Their final hole took them back up the hill to the
club house. The purple figures on current
topographic maps show that the recent
additions, such as the Cross Keys complex was constructed on
property obtained from the Baltimore Country Club west of Falls Road.
Table 2 has a list of entries for Anton Spath in the Baltimore City
Directories.

DEATH OF ANNA MARIA

Anna Maria died on January 21, 1890 and is buried in Baltimore
Cemetery. She was 51 years old. Their youngest child (Edward)
celebrated his 17th birthday two days after his mother's
death. Herbert Spath said that his grandmother died when he
was 8 or 9 years old. I estimate that he would have been that old
in about 1898. Since he was born about the time of Anna Maria's
death, he could not possibly have remembered her death at all. I
looked at old Sunpapers, recorded on Pratt Library
microfilms, but could not find an obituary for Anna Maria.

LIFE GOES ON

The country faced a depression in 1893 that brought on numerous
suicides, mostly by Germans. Financial panic spread, farm prices
collapsed and there were many foreclosures. (38) The effect of
depression on Anton's family is not clear. Court records would
tell if this was the time when Anton acquired some of his
property holdings. It has been suggested that Anton may have taken
another wife after Anna Maria's death and before he married
Augusta. Could this be the one that Herbert Spath remembered? The
1900 Census lists Anton's wife as Leana. The spelling was hard to
read in the document and could have been Leana or Leanor, etc.
Much of the census data about this wife is identical to that of
his first wife Anna Maria.

A 1900 death certificate says that Magdalina Spath died at Cross
Keys on Novermer 3, 1900 and was the wife of Anton Spath. She
was Anton's second wife. Her name was spelled several different
ways in documents (Magdaline, Magnalena, Leana, Lena, etc.) Lena
was born in Prussia. In the 1880 census, Lena was the wife of
Frederick Rumohr and five children were listed (Cristini, Julia,
Henry, John and Luis). Frederick died on June 21, 1887 and is
buried at Loudon Park Cemetery. Two of their children died in
June 1899. The Baltimore Sun had obituaries.

RUMOHR - On June 5, HENRY F. RUMOHR,

in the 27th year of his age, beloved son of Magnalena

Spath.

His funeral will take place from his brother-in-

law's residence, No. 300 South Monroe street, this

Wednesday, at 4 P.M.

Lewis died on two weeks later of typhoid fever.

RUMOHR - On June 21, 1899, LEWIS W., young-

est son of Magnalena Spath.

The funeral will take place from the residence of

his brother-in-law, No. 300 South Monroe street, on

Friday, at 4 P.M.

The house at 300 South Monroe Street belonged to Frederick Rumohr
before his death in 1887. The Rumohr family resided in the house. It is
likely that daughter Julia Rumohr Hill and her husband Clarence Hill
lived in the house after Lena's marriage to Anton Spath. In addition
to the Hills, the 1910 census, shows that sister Christina Rumohr also
lived at 300 South Monroe Street.

Anton's second wife died in November 1900 and is buried in Loudon Park
Cemetery with her first husband, Frederick Rumohr and their sons.

AUGUSTA'S FAMILY

Augusta and Otto Philips had three children. Their family is
shown on the incomplete family tree:

Otto Philips Sr. & Augusta Philips

Augusta A. Muth

Francis Penske & Stephen Penske

Alfred Penske

Elenore

Wilhelm Penske

Otto Penske

Lydia

Emma

Francis Penske Sutter & Joseph Sutter

Otto Philips Jr.

MARRIAGE TO AUGUSTA

Anton married Charlotte Augusta Philips on January 3, 1901.
Anton was 65 years old. The ceremony was held at the Calvary
Baptist Church parsonage. (38c) Calvary Baptist is located on West
Pennsylvania Avenue in Towson, just across the street and north of
the Baltimore County courthouse. The second lot from the corner
has a designation of Cal Bap Ch on the 1898 Bromley map.
In the back of the church lot, there is a small square with an
X, that is likely to be the parsonage.
The 1910 census
reported that Anton and Augusta had been married nine years
when the census was taken in April 1910. Prior to their marriage,
an agreement was made between Anton Spath of Baltimore County
and Augusta Phillip (of Washington City in the District of Columbia)
his intended wife. The agreement was filed with the Baltimore
County Court in the morning of January 3, 1901 and said that Anton
would have power to dispose of all his real and personal property
absolutely or conditionally by deed or will not withstanding his
proposed marriage to Augusta. (38b) They were married the same day
that the agreement was signed.

Towson, MarylandSource: 1898 Baltimore County Atlas by Bromley

Augusta's husband before Anton was Otto Philip. She and Otto
had at least three children, Frances Penske, Augusta Muth
and Otto Philips. The spelling of the two daughter's names in
Anton's will was slightly different from other spellings.
The 1910 census lists Stephen Pensky, his wife and their five
children as residing at 225 Falls Road, next door to Anton
and Augusta. Stephen's wife, Francis was Augusta's
daughter. In November 1913, Stephen Pensky lived at
1307 W. Lombard Street.

TWENTIETH CENTURY
STORIES

Bertha Loos Spath told many stories about her husband's
grandfather. Anton Spath was a friend of the Loos family. When
two of the church members were making fun of her parents, as they
were cleaning the church, Anton snapped at them to keep their
snoz where it belonged. All the children were afraid of the
"old man". One day he caught her climbing the apple
tree in his yard. She was so scared that she wet her
pants. Augusta's granddaughter, Eleanor Penske Kretchmeier
recited in German a poem called "Blackjack" for Anton's
70th birthday. She said that she was eight years old when she
gave the recital. It was held at the German Baptist Church. In
1986, she was 93 years old and was living in the Baptist Home of
Maryland.

On June 10, 1909 The Baltimore American newspaper carried
a short article about Anton.

Some Large Strawberries

Some unusually large and fine speci-

mens of strawberries raised by Mr.An-

ton Spath of Cross Keys were sent yes-

terday to The American Office.

DEATH OF ANTON

On December 20, 1912 Anton affixed his seal to his last will and
testament. It is recorded at the Baltimore County Courthouse,
liber W.J.P. 1908 1942, folio 51, book 17.(39) He
directed that his estate be divided as follows:

Augusta Spath (for the term of her natural life only) $5,000

residence at 223 Falls Road

furniture, plate, silverware & fixtures

dwelling at 225 Falls Road

(after Augusta's death)

Frances Pensky $100

Augusta Mutt $100

Otto Philips $100

his children balance of the $5,000

property above to be evenly divided

Anton Spath Jr. all property on the west side of Falls Rd

Edward M. Spath lots at 227 and 229 Falls Road

lots at 220 and 222 Falls Road

Christina Janson lots at 201, 203, 205 and 207 Falls Road

four lots on the north side of Spath Lane

for the term of her natural life only

then to her child or children)

Marie Anthony lots at 231, 233 and 235 Falls Road

lots at 203, 205, 207 and 209 Oakdale Rd

(for the term of her natural life only

then to her child or children)

The will named Anton's friend Thomas Worthington Brundage Jr. as
the executor of the estate. Where did the friend live? What was
his occupation and what happened to the property?

Anton Spath Sr. died on March 14, 1913. He had just celebrated
his 78th birthday earlier in the month. A notice in the
Baltimore Sunday Morning Sun read as follows:

SPATH Suddenly on March 14, 1913 at his home,

no. 223 Falls Road, West Roland Park ANTON SR.

beloved husband of Augusta C. Spath.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend the

funeral from First German Baptist Church,

corner Monument Street and Patterson

Park Ave. on Tuesday March 18, 1913 at 2:30

o'clock. Interment in Baltimore Cemetery.

Anton was survived by his wife, his four children and some number
of grandchildren, maybe ten. All lived relatively close.

AUGUSTA'S DEATH

Augusta died seven months after Anton's death. She was 70 years
old and is buried with Anton in Baltimore Cemetery. Augusta's
will was recorded at the Baltimore City Court House, folio 561,
book 116.A notice in the Baltimore Sun read as follows:

SPATH On November 3, 1913 AUGUSTA C. age 70

beloved wife of the late Anton Spath Sr.

Relatives and friends of the family

are respectively invited to attend the funeral

from the residence of her daughter, Mrs.

Stephen P. Penske No. 1307 West

Lombard Street, on Thursday at 2 P.M.

Interment in Baltimore Cemetery.

The house at 223 Falls Road and the other property was to be
divided evenly among Anton's children after Augusta's death,
according to Anton's last will and testament. The property was
offered for sale at public auction on June 25, 1914. A bid of
$2500 was received and the offering was withdrawn. The property
was again set for auction on August 4, 1914 and sold for $2810.
Christina, Edward and Anton Jr each received 1/4 of the net
proceeds. Anton's oldest daughter died two months after Anton,
but before the property was sold. The remaining 25 percent was
divided between the surviving husband of Mary Spath Anthon and
their two children, John W. Anthon and Antoinette Anthon.

CROSS KEYS

The current-day village of Cross Keys is a planned community
developed by the Rouse Company with residential, retail and
office components. It opened in September 1965. There are 30
shops and restraunts in the development. It is situated on 72
acres and includes 81000 square feet of retail and 189000 square
feet of office space. The location of Anton's house is shown on
this figure taken from the 1915 Baltimore County Atlas by
George W. & Walter S. Bromley. A portion of Rouse's Cross
Keys was built on land that had been Anton's willow grove.

Source: 1915 Baltimore County Atlas by George W. & Walter S.
Bromley

World War I put an end to the German-American era in Baltimore.
Having a German name or a German sounding name was not popular.
German Street was renamed Redwood Street, after the George
Buchanan Redwood, the first officer to die in France during World
War I. Many Germans changed the spelling or
pronunciation of their names. The effect of these world
occurrences on the Spaths of the 1910's is not totally clear. The
Cross Keys area was incorporated into Baltimore City when
the northern boundary of Baltimore City was moved to its current
location in 1918 as the last chunk of Baltimore County was
annexed.(40)

The figure above is a reproduction of the Spath Lane sign that
was given to Bertha Spath for a special occasion. An
architect or engineer did an investigation of the Cross Keys'
area around 1964 or 1966. I believe that it was connected with
design or construction of the new Baltimore Polytechnic Institute.
Retail construction in the Cross Keys area claimed Spath's Lane
sometime in the 1960's or 1970's. Some recent highway maps still
show Spath's Lane. Bromley's 1915 map
of Baltimore County shows four dwellings on a road that probably
was Oakdale Road. It was north of Anton's residence. This
coincides with the number of Oakdale Road lots listed in Anton's
will. Before 1918, the houses along Falls Road (between Cold
Spring Lane and Hillside Road) were part of Baltimore County and
took its house numbering system. Anton's house was 223 Falls Road.
The numbering system was changed in 1918, when large parts of
Baltimore County were annexed and became part of Baltimore City.
If Anton had still been alive, his house would have been in the
4600 or 4700 block of Falls Road. The 1925 photograph shown below
is included in Baltimore Transitions.(36b) By the will,
Anton's son Edward inherited two lots on the west side of Falls
Road (numbered 220 and 222). Edward's houses might be two of
those in the picture. Anton house was on the other side of the
road and is not shown in the picture.

Source: Baltimore Transitions by Mark B. Miller

When I visited the Falls Road area in 1989, all of the houses
along Oakdale Road had been removed. A big old tree, a highway
sand box, and a set of concrete steps to a vacant lot were all
that remained. The houses at the end of Oakdale Road were
separated from the Roland Park properties by a stone wall. A
small road or alley named Sunny Lane, was located at the top of
the hill. The picture shown below of Anton's house was taken
about 60 years after his death.

Before her marriage to Anton Spath, Augusta lived in the left
portion of the duplex. The entire duplex was torn down during the
summer of 1985. All of the houses on the west side of Falls Road
were demolished in the 1960's to make room for the Poly-Western
complex. By 1989 most of the Falls Road houses immediately south
of Oakdale Road had been demolished. The Falls Road houses north
of Oakdale Road were still occupied.

Back in the old days, John Gambrill owned the Cross Keys Tavern.
Horatio Nelson Gambrill was John's son. The name of the tavern came
from the crossed swords that hung over the door. It was managed
by John's nephew, Perry Knight. When I was looking for Anton's
name in the 1880 census, the only names that I recognized were
Perry Knight and his family. Perry's Ordinary took its name from
the early manager.(41)

Current topo maps show the location of the Poly-Western high
school complex and the Cross Keys buildings that were
constructed on the land that was previously home of the
Baltimore Country Club. Cross Keys Quadrangle Building at
2 Hamill Road was constructed on the 11-acres that had
previously been owned by Anton Spath.

source: 1974 USGS Quadrangle

The village of Cross Keys is located north
of the Poly-Western high school complex. When the Rouse Cross Keys
development opened in 1965, it included a hotel called the
Cross Keys Inn. An advertisement in the Baltimore Yellow Pages
in the 1980's touted the Cross Keys Inn's distinctive
accommodations. The Inn's address, 5100 Falls Road, reflected
the street numbering system that went into operation
after the city line was moved out to its present location.
Radisson took over the hotel in the 1990's and advertises the
hotel as the Radisson Hotel at Cross Keys. Its address is
100 Village Square. There are several conference rooms in the
building, including the Knight and Mather rooms. The
Knight room was named after Perry Knight. Crossroads is the new
name for the restaurant in the hotel. The
family tree shows the descendants of Anton
Spath. Some names are missing from the chart. I will need some
help to bring it up to date and to keep it current.

LIST OF WORKS CITED

1. Baltimore Cemetery gravestones. East end of North Avenue
near Gay Street, area J, walk 7, lot 5, north side.